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The Pilot
"The Pilot" (also known as "The One Where It All Began" or "The One Where Monica Gets A Roommate") is the first episode of Friends. It premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. This first episode focuses on Rachel Green running out on her wedding, Ross Geller's wife moving out and Monica Geller's date with Paul the Wine Guy. The first episode was written by Marta Kauffman & David Crane and was directed by James Burrows. Plot Monica, Joey, Chandler and Phoebe are hanging out at the coffee house, talking about Monica's date for the evening. With a breathy, melancholy "Hi", Ross joins the group. Carol, his lesbian ex-wife, has finally moved her stuff out of his apartment. The discussion changes to this, and Ross lets out how he misses being married, wishing he's married again. Just then, Rachel walks in the coffee house in a wedding dress, to which Chandler yells out "And I'' just wish for a million dollars!" It turns out that Rachel is looking for Monica, to whom she tells about how she has realized she doesn't love her husband-to-be, resulting in the runaway. At Monica's apartment, the gang is watching a Spanish soap opera and trying to translate the lines. Rachel, on the phone with her father, is justifying her drastic actions, declaring that she doesn't love Barry. She also tells him that she'll be staying with Monica. Ross asks the guys to help him set up the new furniture, and he asks Rachel too, but she wants to stay by herself that night. This she does, as Phoebe plays the guitar in the subway and Monica goes out with Paul, the wine guy from her restaurant (Iridium). Meanwhile, Ross and the guys set up the apartment, which was practically empty, as Carol has taken all of the stuff. Ross starts to freak out at being divorced at 26. The guys try to comfort him; Joey, in particular, tells him to get a grip on himself and "grab a spoon", or go out with some women to get over his ex-wife. Ross knows exactly who to ask out (Rachel), but ponders on how to do it. At Monica's apartment, Rachel is trying to leave messages to Barry about earlier that day, and watches ''Joanie loves Chachi ''in the living-room. On her date, Monica is getting to know Paul, who confides in her how it's been 2 years since he last performed during sex. Monica spits soup on him out of shock, but still wants to go out with him, and in fact sleeps with him that night. The next day, Rachel, determined to turn over a new leaf, makes coffee for the first time in her life, which she thinks is great. Chandler and Joey, who get to taste it, think differently and end up watering the plant on the table with the coffee. Monica talks to Paul and kisses him goodbye at the door, which Rachel, Joey and Chandler eavesdrop upon. Chandler and Joey leave the apartment, and the girls talk about Monica's night. Monica then goes to work, where she meets her colleague Franny again. Franny knows Paul, and when he becomes the subject of their talk, Monica finds out that Paul uses the 2-year line to hook up with girls. When she admits this to the group, the guys are in disbelief how she did not see it coming. Rachel joins the group with her new shopping stuff, which her buys with credits cards paid for by her father. Back at the apartment, the group convince her to cut herself off, and she snaps the cards in half. Later that night, Monica, Rachel and Ross are watching TV. Monica leaves for bed, smashing Paul's watch to the floor on her way to the bedroom. Ross and Rachel get to talk about high school, and Ross takes the opportunity to hypothesize a date with her, which she does not object to. Ross leaves the apartment, as Monica comes out of her room. When she asks him what's with him, he just replies: "I just grabbed a spoon". During the closing credits, Rachel pours coffee to the guys at the coffee house, where she now works as a waitress.They ask if Rachel made the coffee,And Rachel says she is only serveing.They all drink their coffee. Cast and Crew Main Cast 'Jennifer Aniston' - Rachel Green 'Courteney Cox' - Monica Geller 'Lisa Kudrow' - Phoebe Buffay 'Matt Le Blanc' - Joey Tribbiani 'Matthew Perry' - Chandler Bing 'David Schwimmer' - Ross Geller Supporting Cast 'John Allen Nelson' - Paul the Wine Guy 'Clea Lewis' – Franny 'Cynthia Mann' - The Waitress 'Barry Hines' - Guy in the Coffee House Crew '''Directed By:' James Burrows Written By: Marta Kauffman & David Crane Produced By: Wendy Knoller Jamie O'Connor Todd Stevens Andy Zall Production Casting David Schwimmer was the first to be cast. Having already auditioned for a different pilot for Kauffman and Crane in 1993, the part of Ross was written with him in mind. Lisa Kudrow's role as Ursula on Mad About You attracted the producers to her (later episodes would establish Ursula as Phoebe's twin sister). Courteney Cox was considered for the role of Rachel, but after reading the script, she read for Monica. Matt LeBlanc was cast as Joey because the producers wanted "a guy's guy". LeBlanc auditoned over eight times, and his final one was a reading with Jennifer Aniston and Cox. Matthew Perry had previously worked with Kauffman and Crane in an episode of Dream On, and requested an audition after identifying with Chandler. He was denied the audition because he was "off the market" after appearing in a pilot called LAX 2194. Jon Cryer auditioned for Chandler while appearing on stage in London. He read for a British casting director who sent a video tape of his audition to the casting executives in Los Angeles, though the tape did not arrive in time. Perry was eventually cast when the network and producers decided his other pilot would not be commissioned for a full series. Jennifer Aniston was cast last, having originally been eyed for Monica. Writing and filming When the pilot was first pitched the producers intended Phoebe and Chandler to be secondary characters who provided humor around the other four main characters, though by the time filming began they were a part of the core six. Joey and Chandler were originally written similarly but at the request of Burrows, Joey was "dumbed up a bit". NBC Entertainment president Don Ohlmeyer was worried that the audience would see Monica as "a slut" because she slept with Paul on the first date, but the producers did not share the concern. A questionnaire was issued to the audience after the taping and the results sided with the producers. The same questionnaire was issued to focus groups, whose response was the same as Ohlmeyer's, but the episode went out unaltered. The series was known as Friends Like Us during casting and Six of One at the time of the pilot, but was retitled Friends before broadcast. Several scenes that were cut from the episode were restored when the series went into syndication, bringing the running time to 37 minutes. Trivia General *According to the producers, a questionnaire regarding Monica's promiscuity was passed out at the taping of "The Pilot" at the request of NBC. Apparently NBC considered Monica a slut for sleeping with Paul the Wine Guy on their first date. *The Spanish-language soap opera that the Friends watch at Monica's apartment is the very successful "Tres Destinos (1993)". The lady that doesn't seem to be too happy about the pipe organ is Puerto Rican actress Angela Meyer. *In The One With The Flashback Monica,Ross,Phoebe and Chandler say they do not know where they would hang out as Central Perk was once an bar and would later become an coffee house. Goofs *Joey's wristwatch appears and disappears during the whole episode. *Barry's surname is Finkle during this episode. In later episodes, his last name has been changed to Farber. *It can be clearly seen that the apartment numbers are 4 (Joey and Chandler's) and 5 (Monica and Rachel's). Being situated too high to have such low numbers, they have been re-numbered to 19 and 20 respectively. *After Rachel runs into the café, Monica introduces her to Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe and says "Remember my brother Ross?". In The One With The Thanksgiving Flashbacks, Chandler met Rachel at Monica's house at least twice in two years during Thanksgiving; another time at college during a party, where he also kisses her for about 5 seconds; and once when she was engaged to Barry (not much before the pilot of the series), when he tries to hit on her with little success. It should be natural that Rachel should have remembered Chandler when she got to the café instead of being introduced for the first time there; however, she shows no sign of previous acquaintance with him. 'Episode Navigation' Category:Friends Category:Season 1 Category:Episodes